The present invention relates to a water inlet valve for a toilet and especially to a water inlet valve having a pair of valve seats each with a floating valve element for filling a toilet flush tank.
The standard design for flush tanks has been utilized for a great many years and includes an inlet pipe for a valve, a float supported on a lever arm which opens and closes the inlet valve, an overflow pipe to prevent overrunning of the flush tank, a flush valve which seats on a bottom outlet under pressure of the water head in the tank, and a hand lever connected to the flush valve for lifting the flush valve to break the water head pressure to permit it to float freely until the tank has been emptied. Once the tank is emptied, the flush valve closes again and the tank refills by the dropping of the inlet valve controlling float. The conventional ballcock valve used in the inlet pipe is constructed such that, if the water level in the tank recedes or moves downwardly, the float also moves downwardly. An arm secured to the float operates a valve mechanism in the inlet tube or pipe so that as the float moves downwardly, the valve is gradually opened. In such constructions, the valve normally opens in the direction of the inlet water pressure and closes against such pressure. When the outlet from the tank is finally closed and the water passes through the valve and into the tank from the inlet pipe, the float gradually moves upwardly with a rising water level and as it does, the valve gradually closes. When the water level reaches its normal high point in the tank, the float will be at its uppermost position and the valve is closed. When the tank is not flushed for a considerable time, some evaporation and loss of water in the tank tanks place and the water level is lowered a small amount and the float is lowered sufficiently to open the valve slightly and permit water from the inlet pipe to replenish the water supply in the tank.
The present invention relates to a toilet flush tank and to a water supply ballcock valve assembly which utilizes two valves, each having a free floating ball element, which is placed below the valve seat in the water line so that the valves are automatically closed unless the floating balls are mechanically pushed off of the valve seats.
Prior U.S. patents relating to water valves for toilets can be seen in the Nasser U.S. Pat. No. 4,335,741, for a fluid level controller for a water supply tank which mounts the floatation element adjustably along the length of a rod and in a direction perpendicular to the length of the rod using a common clamping element on the rod. The valve element is positioned below the valve seat where it is raised into position and pushed out of position in the operation of the valve. The Kryzer U.S. Pat. No. 2,935,081, is an improvement to a float valve mechanism for use in water softening devices for controlling the flow of liquid to and from a tank. The Flieder U.S. Pat. No. 3,024,799, is a toilet tank inlet valve which uses a free ball valve element free floating in the housing. The Imler U.S. Pat. No. 4,312,083, is a flush valve for a toilet which operates the valve element from beneath the valve seat. The Wilson U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,453, is a valve for a fluid system which directly activates a ball element by a cam lobe of a cam member and a ball valve instead of utilizing additional links between the cam lobe and the ball member.
The Drown U.S. Pat. No. 2,375,406, is a non-overfill device for use in storage batteries and includes a floating ball valve floating in a liquid in one of the battery cells. The Whitlock, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 2,716,422, is for a float valve in which the float is connected by a stem directly to a valve disc and in which the rising water lifts the float in the valve disc against a valve seat. The Brown et al. U.S. Pat. No. RE 30,427, shows a cam actuated valve element for limiting the flow of liquid petroleum gas into a tank. The Roosa U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,011, is a flushing system for use in toilets and which uses a two-stage valve using inlet line pressure for operating the two stages. The Downin U.S. Pat. No. 3,110,036, is a flush tank assembly which uses a lifting ball and a ballcock assembly driven by an eccentric to drive the ball against a valve seat. The Martin et al. U.S. Pat. No. 2,756,769, is for a ballcock for a flush tank in which the float member is raised and lowered by the water level in the tank so that the movement of the float opens and closes a valve in the water inlet pipe.
The present invention provides for a ballcock assembly which includes a pair of valve assemblies in which the water pressure drives a free floating valve element in each case against the valve seat. The first valve is always maintained open when the ballcock valve assembly is attached thereto while the ballcock assembly valve is operated by a float rotating a cam to push the free floating ball away from the valve seat to allow the flush tank to fill with water to a predetermined level. A float drop pin prevents the float from dropping so it cannot reopen to full flow. For the float to rise above the pin, it had to occur from a seat leak allowing water to flow over the overflow tube. This hang up will notify the user that the ballcock is leaking because it will not fill at full flow as long as the float is hung up on the drop pin.